1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a radiation imaging system having a console device and a radiation imaging cassette that contains a flat panel detector in a cassette casing, and a radiation imaging program.
2. Description Related to the Prior Art
In a medical field, a radiation imaging system that uses radiation such as X-rays is widely known. The radiation imaging system is constituted of a radiation generation device for applying the radiation to a patient's body part to be examined, and a radiation detector for detecting the radiation that has passed through the body part. As the radiation detector, an IP cassette containing an imaging plate (IP) and a flat panel detector (FPD), which has the advantage that can directly convert the radiation into image data, are in practical use. Moreover, a portable FPD cassette that contains the FPD in a casing of the same shape and size as that of the IP cassette is recently developed to allow loading of the FPD on the conventional radiation imaging system.
For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication Nos. 2009-297187 and 2005-006979 disclose the radiation imaging system that is provided with the FPD cassette having a battery and an antenna and a console device for communicating with the FPD cassette by wireless. Besides, a cable is connectable between the FPD cassette and the console device, to carry out communication and charge of the battery thereby.
In this radiation imaging system, a communication mode of the image data from the FPD cassette to the console device is selectively switchable between a wireless mode and a wired mode as occasion demands. The wireless mode is selected in the case of giving high priority to flexibility in handling of the FPD cassette, while the wired mode is selected in the case of giving high priority to stability in communication.
When the wireless mode is selected, the battery supplies the FPD cassette with drive power. If the FPD cassette has almost run out of the battery and loses the ability of sending the image data by wireless, switching from the wireless mode to the wired mode allows the FPD cassette to send the image data through the cable. Also, the FPD cassette can get the drive power and charge the battery through the cable.
The FPD cassette is generally used in the wireless mode without plugging the cable from a handling viewpoint. However, as described above, when the FPD cassette is almost run out of the battery or is used in an unstable communication environment such as a ward of a hospital, a doctor sometimes plugs the cable to switch from the wireless mode to the wired mode as a temporary measure.
In such a case, it is desirable to return the communication mode from the wired mode to the wireless mode as soon as the battery charge is completed or a communication condition is recovered. However, the doctor cannot know the time of completion of the battery charge or recovery of the communication condition. If the cable is unplugged while the radiation imaging system processes data through the cable, operation of the system becomes unstable. Especially, in the system that follows an operation sequence in which a preview image is sent before sending an actual image, the doctor tends to have wrong idea that all processes have been completed at the time of checking the preview image, and hence easily unplugs the cable during transmission of the actual image.
The majority of doctors want to switch the communication mode at a break of radiography. Taking the case of successively carrying out the radiography of plural patients as an example, if the doctor knows that the communication mode is switchable to the wireless mode in the middle of the radiography of the certain patient, the doctor often makes continuation of the radiography a higher priority than switching of the communication mode. At the time of finishing the radiography of that patient, the doctor easily forgets about switching to the wireless mode and starts the radiography of the next patient. As a result, the doctor easily loses an opportunity for return to the wireless mode.